Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Lambda Legal asks court to block Trump's HHS anti-LGBTQ health care rule
--From a Lambda Legal press release
2020-07-09

This article shared 2843 times since Thu Jul 9, 2020
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email


( Washington, D.C., July 9, 2020 ) — Today, Lambda Legal asked a federal district court to prevent the recently published health care discrimination rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from going into effect. The rule, which seeks to exclude LGBTQ people and other vulnerable populations from regulatory protections under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, is set to go into effect August 18, 2020.

"For years now, LGBTQ and immigrant communities have been under constant attack by the Trump Administration. It is particularly outrageous, however, for the administration to invite discrimination in health care in the middle of a pandemic." said Bamby Salcedo, a transgender Latina woman and President of nonprofit TransLatin@ Coalition, one of plaintiffs of the lawsuit.

"We are putting a stop to the Trump administration's immoral and legally indefensible attacks on our communities. Section 1557 of the ACA is clear in its inclusion of LGBTQ people and other vulnerable communities and the law is on our side. This rule cannot be allowed to go into effect, not even for a moment." said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, Senior Attorney and Health Care Strategist for Lambda Legal. "The Trump administration has a dismal record of handling the COVID-19 pandemic and a well-documented score of attacking the rights of LGBTQ people, particularly transgender persons. Now the Trump administration seeks to double-down on both by limiting access to health care for LGBTQ people and other vulnerable individuals in the midst of a global pandemic."

On June 22, Lambda Legal and co-counsel at Steptoe & Johnson LLP filed suit challenging the HHS health care discrimination rule on behalf of Whitman-Walker Health, the TransLatin@ Coalition and its members, Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality, AGLP: The Association of LGBTQ+ Psychiatrists, and four individual doctors. The rule published June 19, 2020 attempts to exclude LGBTQ people and other vulnerable populations from the regulatory protections under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity, transgender status, or sex stereotypes as forms of sex discrimination, among other things.

Although it cannot change the law, as multiple federal courts—including most recently, the U.S. Supreme Court in its ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County—have interpreted sex discrimination protections to include LGBTQ people, the health care discrimination rule would invite health care workers, doctors, hospitals and health insurance companies that receive federal funding to refuse to provide or cover health care services critical to the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ people, such as gender-affirming and reproductive care. The proposed rule would also limit the remedies available to people who face health disparities, limit the access to health care for people with Limited English Proficiency ( LEP ), and dramatically reduce the number of health care entities and insurance subject to the rule.

"It is shameful for HHS to forge ahead with the implementation of their health care discrimination rule, which seeks to carve out LGBTQ from regulatory health care protections under the Affordable Care Act. If allowed to go into effect, the rule will wreak havoc and confusion, hurting most those vulnerable populations already suffering disproportionately at the hands of the pandemic. The safety and lives of LGBTQ people, but especially transgender people, hang in the balance." added Gonzalez-Pagan.

"As a transgender woman and a Latina immigrant, I know firsthand how transgender people, particularly trans women of color like myself, and those with limited English proficiency have been turned away or discriminated against when seeking necessary health care. Now, the Trump Administration is inviting such discrimination against our community. Adequate and nondiscriminatory access to health care is a human right and can make the difference between life and death." added Salcedo.

Lambda Legal continues to fight for LGBTQ people during this global public health crisis. In March, we filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for refusing to enforce nondiscrimination protections for our communities in HHS-funded programs ( see here ). We also helped to lead a coalition of 183 organizations that called on Congress to ensure nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people in any COVID-19 response ( see here ).

Lambda Legal has successfully fought back against prior attempts by the Trump administration to invite discrimination against LGBTQ people. In November 2019, as a result of Lambda Legal's lawsuit, a federal court vacated the Trump administration's Denial-of-Care Rule, which invited discrimination in health care against LGBTQ people based on others' religious or moral beliefs ( see here ).

Lambda Legal's docket also has multiple examples of LGBTQ people confronting discrimination and bias in accessing health care, including a lesbian couple denied infertility treatment at a women's health clinic ( see here ), a transgender man whose hospital refused to allow his surgeon to perform a routine hysterectomy ( see here ), and transgender people denied coverage for gender-affirming care ( here and here ). Lambda Legal has documented hundreds of other instances of discrimination, included many described in comments opposing a proposed rule to expand health workers' and institutions' ability to elevate their own religious interests over the needs of their patients ( see here ).

Lambda Legal Senior Attorney and Health Care Strategist Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, Senior Counsel Karen Loewy, Senior Attorney Jamie Gliksberg, and Staff Attorney Carl Charles are joined by Steptoe's Laurie Edelstein, Michael Vatis, Khristoph Becker, Johanna Dennehy, and Laura Lane-Steele as counsel on the brief.

Read today's filing here: www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/legal-docs/whitman_us_20200709_motion-preliminary-injunction .

Learn more about Whitman-Walker Clinic v. HHS here: www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/cases/whitman-walker-clinic-v-hhs .

Read Lambda's Legal comments opposing the Trump administration's changes to the Section 1557 anti-discrimination rule when they were first proposed here: www.lambdalegal.org/in-court/legal-docs/20190813_hhs-1557-comments .

See Lambda Legal's Know Your Rights: Health Provider Discrimination, a resource for transgender and gender nonconforming people by visiting: www.lambdalegal.org/know-your-rights/article/trans-health-care-discrimination .

If you experience discrimination in a health care setting, let us know via our Health Care Tracker by visiting www.lambdalegal.org/healthcarehelp .


This article shared 2843 times since Thu Jul 9, 2020
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Chicago's LGBTQ+ Advisory Council sets a new course
2024-03-18
Chicago's LGBTQ+ Advisory Council held its first meeting of the calendar year on Feb. 28 at City Hall in the Loop under the leadership of the recently appointed chair Jin-Soo Huh. The LGBTQ+ Advisory Council is ...


Gay News

WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes
2024-03-15
Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Missouri measure, HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, judge, Texas schools
2024-03-15
In Missouri, a newly proposed law could charge teachers and counselors with a felony and require them to register as sex offenders if they're found guilty of supporting transgender students who are socially transitioning, CNN noted. ...


Gay News

UK health service to stop routinely prescribing puberty blockers to minors
2024-03-14
NHS (National Health Service) England confirmed that children will no longer routinely be prescribed puberty blockers at gender-identity clinics, the BBC reported. The decision came after a review found there was "not enough evidence" that they ...


Gay News

One Roof Chicago launches youth-focused workforce development program
2024-03-14
One Roof Chicago (ORC) is set to launch its first training, education and job placement program for LGBTQ+ young adults in late spring. This Community Health Workers and Elder Care program is a part of ORC's ...


Gay News

Howard Brown experts discuss advocacy and allyship for Chicago's trans community
2024-03-14
By Alec Karam - Howard Brown Health's Trans & Gender Diverse People's Rights & Patient Care panel convened March 12 to discuss both resources for—and opportunities to provide allyship to—the city's trans and gender diverse communities. The event hos ...


Gay News

Howard Brown Health faces October trial if settlement isn't reached with union
2024-03-13
Howard Brown Health could go to trial over unfair labor practice allegations if the LGBTQ+ health center doesn't reach a settlement with its agreement soon. Chicago's regional director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed ...


Gay News

PASSAGES: Former Chicago Commission on Human Relations chair Clarence Wood
2024-03-13
LGBTQ ally and former Chicago Commission on Human Relations (CCHR) Chair and Commissioner Clarence N. Wood died March 5. He was 83. Wood was born April 14, 1940, in Alabama. While primarily raised in Alabama, Wood ...


Gay News

Longtime LGBTQ+-rights activist David Mixner dies at 77
2024-03-12
On March 11, longtime LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS activist David Mixner—known for working on Bill Clinton's presidential campaign but then splitting from him over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT)—died at age 77, The Advocate reported. ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+ Victory Fund remembers co-founder David Mixner
2024-03-12
--From a press release - Today, LGBTQ+ Victory Fund President & CEO Mayor Annise Parker released the following statement on the passing of LGBTQ+ civil rights activist and LGBTQ+ Victory Fund co-founder David Mixner: "Today, we lost David Mixner, a founding ...


Gay News

Florida settles 'Don't Say Gay' lawsuit
2024-03-11
On March 11, the state of Florida settled a multi-year lawsuit against the so-called "Don't Say Gay" law, which limits how LGBTQ+ topics can be discussed and presented in schools, The Hill reported. The settlement agreement ...


Gay News

Pro-choice activists protest crisis pregnancy center on International Women's Day
2024-03-11
The rainy weather on March 8 didn't deter a passionate group of pro-choice protesters from gathering in Old Town on International Women's Day. Following the opening of Women's Care Center—a crisis pregnancy center—directly next to Pl ...


Gay News

ELECTIONS 2024 Precious Brady-Davis says climate change is top issue as she runs to finish appointed MWRD term
2024-03-08
Precious Brady-Davis, commissioner for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), is one of several candidates running to fill three seats on the board in the March 19 election. Brady-Davis was appointed to the role last summer ...


Gay News

ELECTIONS 2024 MWRD's Marcelino Garcia discusses flooding, land use and LGBTQ+ inclusion
2024-03-08
Marcelina Garcia, commissioner for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), is one of several candidates in the running to fill three seats on the board in the March 19 election. Garcia, who chair's the MWRD's Finance ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Altercation, mpox research, Univ. of Fla., George Santos, tech battle
2024-03-08
Video footage uploaded to Facebook showed an altercation between a state trooper and two prominent Philadelphia LGBTQ+ leaders, the Washington Blade reported, republishing an article from Philadelphia Gay News. Celena ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.